According to Gartner’s recently-released computer shipment data for Q1 2012 (via MacRumors), Apple has once again outpaced the PC industry with year-over-year growth of 3.8%, while the industry at large shrunk by 3.5%. Apple now ranks as the third-largest PC maker in the U.S., behind HP and Dell.
Interestingly, HP also performed very well, and outpaced Apple with 6.6% growth, despite overall reduced spending by consumers (and hence, fewer computer purchases). Also worth noting is that Apple’s share of the U.S. PC market has been slipping for two straight quarters, down from nearly 13″ at the end of Q3 2011.
Apple’s decline in sales has been credit to a lack of hardware updates, with consumers holding off on major purchases until Apple releases new models based in Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPUs. Even so, Apple’s Mac sales have at least risen year-over-year, and their market share has been steadily increasing over time, despite experiencing periodic lulls.
